A Baltimore police officer was arrested and charged with aggravated animal cruelty after he slit the throat of a dog that he reportedly had under control, authorities said Wednesday.

Police were called Saturday morning to a report in Southeast Baltimore of a stray dog that had nipped someone trying to rescue it, local news station WBAL-TV reported.

Police found and restrained the 7-year-old Chinese shar-pei breed, using a pole around her neck.

“Unfortunately, at some point after the dog was contained, one of our officers used a knife and cut the dog’s throat. This is outrageous and an unacceptable breach of our protocol,” Baltimore Police Deputy Commissioner Dean Palmere said, the station reported.

According to charging documents, Officer Jeffrey Bolger was overheard saying, “I’m going to gut this [expletive] thing,” before he killed the dog.

“It was a complete violation of protocol,” Mr. Kowalczy said, CNN reported. “It’s not often police speak out against one of their own, but we are all truly appalled.”

“We have no words to describe this. To say that we are appalled at the allegations, I think, is an understatement,” Baltimore Police Deputy Commissioner Jerry Rodriguez said.

The dog’s owner said police never called her to inform her of the situation.

“She went missing Saturday and after looking for her all day, I found out through a neighbor that she was put down,” Sarah Gossard told WBAL.

“Police never contacted me until today. Only after did I find out more details. I learned from the news that she was stabbed in the throat. I want justice,” she said.